Individuals who reside in assisted living facilities and nursing home environments often do so because they are incapable of caring for themselves. When their trusted healthcare providers violate their trust by subjecting them to multiple forms of abuse, it may be up to the resident’s family members to step in and take action to protect them.
If this sounds like what you are going through, you may feel overwhelmed but ready to take action. Fortunately, with help from an aggressive personal injury lawyer in Beaufort at Shelly Leeke Law Firm, you can take steps to protect your family member and demand justice. Contact our office for a free consultation today and find out more about what is next for your nursing home abuse case.
How to Tell if Your Loved One Is Enduring Nursing Home Abuse
One of the top reasons there are not more reports, complaints, and lawsuits filed against assisted living and nursing home facilities is that it is not always clear when a family member is being neglected or abused. Your nursing home abuse attorney in Beaufort, SC can help you analyze your situation to determine whether your loved one is suffering from nursing home abuse or neglect.
While you work out a plan with your nursing home abuse lawyer, here are some of the more common types of nursing home abuse your family member could be experiencing and the signs you could be aware of:
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse is one of the most prevalent ways the elderly are taken advantage of by their healthcare providers, nursing staff, and other nursing home or assisted living facility staff or residents. This can occur when the abuser steals money, makes changes to important financial documents, convinces your loved one to write checks, gives them access to credit cards, gives them money, or changes your family member’s financial power of attorney.
If you suspect your loved one’s suffering from financial abuse, you can take steps to pull their financial records, obtain nursing home documents, and work with your nursing home abuse attorney to gather other evidence to prove your loved one has been taken advantage of and abused.
Physical and Sexual Abuse
Another common type of abuse scene in assisted living facilities and nursing home environments is physical and sexual abuse. You are nursing home abuse lawyer in Beaufort, SC can help you understand some of the most common signs of sexual and physical abuse in nursing homes, such as:
- Unexplained bruising
- Unexplained bone breaks
- Unexplained burn injuries
- Sudden weight loss or gain
- Social isolation
- Sudden depression
- Increased anxiety
- Unexplained fear of healthcare providers
- Recoiling at physical touch
- Substance-abuse issues
- Self-harming behaviors
- Increased promiscuity
- Behavioral changes
- Agitation and anger outbursts
These are only a few examples of the signs you might see if your loved one is suffering from sexual or physical abuse in a nursing home. If you believe your loved one is in immediate danger, take steps to remove them from the facility and report your concerns to your nursing home abuse lawyer and the Walterboro Police Department.
Psychological and Emotional Abuse
Lesser known types of nursing home abuse are emotional and psychological abuse. Here, the abuser may name-call, intimidate, threaten, withhold medication, or berate the victim. They may cause extreme anticipation and feelings of fear, and cause your loved one to go into a state of extreme anxiety and depression over the emotional abuse they are experiencing.
Emotional and psychological abuse may go unreported because they are more difficult to recognize. However, if you notice your loved one withdrawing socially, increased references to death, signs of nervousness or low self-esteem, or have noticed unexplained personality changes, it may be time to talk to your nursing home abuse lawyer about what your next steps should be.
Neglect
Neglect is also a type of nursing home abuse you need to be on the lookout for if your loved one is an assisted living facility or nursing home resident.
Here, healthcare providers may intentionally or unintentionally deprive patients of the necessary medication, fail to provide them with the food or water they need, fail to ensure they are practicing good hygiene, and ignore them or keep them isolated from other nursing home residents. You might notice the development of bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, weight loss, and other significant signs of neglect if your loved one is being abused in a nursing home.
Steps You Can Take to Demand Justice
You can take several steps to ensure the at-fault parties are held accountable for the abuse they have subjected your loved one to. Some of your options could include the following:
- Filing a complaint with the South Carolina Department of Social Services Long-Term Care Ombudsman
- Filing a report with the Walterboro Police Department
- Filing a complaint with South Carolina Adult Protective Services
- Filing a complaint with the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General
- Calling a nursing home abuse lawyer in Walterboro, SC for help
- Filing a complaint with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
- Filing a complaint with the South Carolina Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging
- Filing a claim with the nursing home’s medical malpractice insurance provider
- Filing a civil lawsuit against the nursing home facility
- Filing a civil lawsuit against the nursing home facility’s parent company
- Filing a claim with the nursing home facility’s parent company’s insurance provider
You can go over which options are the best fit for your nursing home abuse claim when you reach out to our Shelly Leeke Law Firm team to discuss your action plan.
Reach Out to a Beaufort Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer for Help
If you believe your loved one has been abused, neglected, or miss treated in their nursing home or assisted living facility, you may have a chance to take action and help prevent them from enduring abuse.
Get in touch with a dedicated Beaufort nursing home abuse attorney at Shelly Leeke Law Firm today to learn more about your next steps. You can fill out our quick contact form or call our office when you are ready to start working on your case.
